Item singulation system and method

ABSTRACT

A conveyor system for processing items, such as manufacturers&#39; products or boxes, from a three-dimensional arrangement to a two-dimensional arrangement includes inclined and declined conveyors. The inclined conveyor may include vacuum through perforations in the belt. A collimating conveyor includes parallel belts that operation at different speeds to move the items laterally via shear forces.

BACKGROUND

This invention is related to conveying and handling items, and moreparticularly to systems and methods for separating items duringconveying.

A great number of items are moved in modern commerce. For example, in amodern fulfillment center, a vast number of different products are movedon conveyors. Further, a vast number of paperboard boxes containingitems are moved on conveyors in facilities such as sort centers and likefacilities. Several types of conveyors, such as belt conveyors androller conveyors, are used in modern commerce.

In many circumstances, items can be discharged onto a conveyor such thatthe items are jumbled together or even piled up in a few layers. As usedherein, the term “item” refers to at least one of products, mailers,and/or boxes, and/or any other discrete objects typically transported onconveyors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of forces applied to athree-dimensional arrangement of items via an inclined conveyor anddeclined conveyor;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conveyor system for reducing thethree-dimensional arrangement into a two-dimensional arrangement andcollimating the two-dimensional arrangement.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the conveyor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the conveyor of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged top view of the collimating conveyor of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Items loaded on belt are often piled or randomly stacked on a conveyor.In many circumstances, it is desirable to convey items one-at-a-time. Insome environments, items are introduced stacked or in an amorphousjumble. The inventors have designed a system that introduces amechanical discontinuity into a continuous stream of items such that asudden change in the direction of gravitation forces act on the streamof items, to interrupt the continuous stream, as schematicallyillustrated in FIG. 1. Thus, the smooth layers shift, as the laminarconfiguration of the items reorient or slide or move relative to oneanother as the items move past the crest formed between the twoconveyors.

Without intending to be limited to the following explanation, items 99arranged in a three-dimensional arrangement (such as layers) havedifferent adhering forces acting at the lower and upper interface ofeach item or layer. Because the friction force between items is based onthe coefficient of friction and normal force in direction N (FIG. 1),the frictional forces between items tends to increase from lower tohigher levels. As illustrated, force F1 at the interface between theconveyor and the items is larger than force F2 at the interface betweenthe lower most item 91 and the second layer item 92 on item 91. Andforce F2 is larger than force F3 at the interface with second layer item92 and the third layer item 93 on item 92. The forces F1, F2, and F3represent the frictional forces between items the items or between thelowermost item and the bet. Further, the conveyor surface that may bechosen for a high coefficient of friction when used with the items. Avacuum force may be used to enhance the total force acting hold the itemstationary relative to the belt.

As the packages move on an inclined surface and are exposed to themechanical discontinuity, the force difference across the two interfacescauses the packages to slip. The slipping results in reducing the numberof layers.

A conveyor system 10 receives packages 99 at an inlet 50 of an inclinedconveyor 20, which discharges onto a declined conveyor 40 to form crestbetween the conveyors 20 and 40. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 through 4,conveyor system 10 includes a pair of inclined conveyors 20 and declinedconveyors 40. Reference letters ‘a’ and ‘b’ are appended to thereference numbers of conveyor system 10 when referring to particularstructures. Reference numbers used herein without an appended letterrefer to the structure generally. An inlet conveyor 31 can feed items toconveyor system 10 and an outlet conveyor 32 can transport items fromconveyor system 10. Conveyors 31 and 32 may be horizontal belt conveyorsor conveyors of other types.

Inclined conveyor 20 preferably is a belt-type conveyor, which has abelt surface 22 that may be chosen for its anti-slip (high coefficientof friction) surface. Any material is contemplated, and other types ofconveyors may be employed. A motor and drive 24 powers belt 22. In theembodiment of the figures, the motor and drive 24 is variable speed. Themotor itself may of any type, such as without limitation a variablespeed AC or DC motor, or a fixed speed motor with a variable speedcoupling such as an eddy coupling, or a variable speed gearbox, beltdrive, or the like. Accordingly, belt 20 is configured to convey itemsuphill from inlet 50 to inclined conveyor outlet 52. The material ofbelt 20 may be a conventional rubber or the like, or other materialchosen to diminish slipping of items on belt surface 22.

Declined conveyor 40 preferably is a chute or slide 42 such that itemsdischarging at inclined conveyor 54 slide down 42, as the change indirection of the forces at crest 58 between conveyors 20 and 40facilitates reduction of the number of layers of the items. In thisregard, slide 42 is a fixed (that is not moving rolling, vibrating, andthe like) surface on which the items can slide by gravity. The presentinvention is not limited to a slide, as other conveyors (such as withoutlimitation powered conveyors) may be employed.

Conveyor system 10 can include more than one inclined and declinedconveyor, and in many circumstances more than one pair of inclined anddeclined conveyors are preferred. As illustrated in the figures, itemspicked up by a first inclined conveyor 20 a at inlet 50 a are conveyeduphill and then discharged at discharge 52 a onto declined slide 40 a atcrest 58 a. The items slide down from inlet 54 a on slide 40 a and exitat discharge 56 a to be picked up at inclined conveyor 20 b at inlet 50b. Items are conveyed up inclined conveyor 20 b and then discharged atdischarge 52 b onto declined conveyor 40 b at crest 58 b. The itemsslide down inclined conveyor 20 b from inlet 54 b to discharge 56 b.More inclined and declined conveyors may be used.

Optionally, inclined conveyors 20 a and 20 b may include a perforatedbelt 22 a, 22 b to which vacuum is provided typically to grooves in thebelt. Vacuum pulled through the belt perforations enhance the grippingof belt surface 22 a on items. Vacuum is preferred when the itemsconveyed are various products, such term is used to refer to a widevariety of products (that is, packaged products sold via e-commerce inthe manufacturer's packaging) processed in an order fulfillment center.Vacuum may also be useful to enhance gripping of paperboard boxed,mailers, and the like.

For example, some products among the various products may be difficultto convey uphill. For example, cylindrical items may roll at the inlets50 of inclined conveyor 20. Vacuum pressure applied through the belt 22enhance the ability of the conveyor 10 to process difficult items, suchas cylindrical or rounded products.

As illustrated in the figures, inclined conveyors 20 a and 20 b may beinclined at an angle indicated by A1 and declined conveyors 40 a and 40b may be declined by an angle A2. The angles A1 and A2 may be chosenaccording to the particular items intended to be conveyed and processedfrom a three-dimensional arrangement to a two-dimensional arrangement,belt conveyor material, whether vacuum is present and if so the vacuumpressure and size and layout of the perforations, belt speed, and likeparameters as a person familiar with conveyors will understand. Conveyor20 a may be inclined at different angle A1 than that of conveyor 20 b.Conveyor 40 a may be inclined at a different angle A2 than that ofconveyor 40 b.

A sensor 82, such as a photoelectric sensor, vision system, or othermeans to sense the presence of items, may be positioned on conveyor 40or other locations. The signal from sensor 82 may be used to vary thespeed of drive 24. For example, in circumstances in which items arelongitudinally spaced apart when passing sensor 82, the speed of theconveyor 40 may be increased to decrease the spacing between items andincrease throughput. Other changes to the speed of conveyors may be madedepending upon the signal from sensor 82, the rate of packages at theinlet to conveyor 40, the degree of stacking of the packages at theinlet of conveyor 40, the number of conveyors in the system, and likeparameters.

The conveyors may also have a lift 60, illustrated schematically in FIG.3, to vary angle A1 of conveyor 20 and/or angle A2 of conveyor 40,depending on the effectiveness of the reduction in item layers,particular item choice, and like parameters. Lift 60 may be anyconventional type, such as (without limitation) a scissor lift, linearactuator, and the like. Thus, sensors 82 and a vision system 80 locatedat an outlet of outlet conveyor 32 may control the speed of belts 22 aand 22 b via drives 24 a and 24 b, and may control angles A1 and/or A2via lifts 60.

Items at outlet 56 b of conveyor system 10 are in an amorphoustwo-dimensional arrangement and are fed into collimating conveyor 110.Conveyor 110 includes plural, parallel, elongate belts 112, which areindicated on FIG. 5 particularly as items 112 a, 112 b, 112 c, . . . ,112 n, where the total number of belts are represented by ‘n’.

Each belt 112 can have its own unique speed. For example, in oneembodiment, an outboard-most belt 112 a can have a fastest speed, withdecreasing speed extending across the belt, such that the speed of belt112 a is greater than the speed of adjacent belt 112 b, and belt speedof belt 112 b is greater than adjacent belt 112 c, etc.

The differential speed of the conveyors 112 a et seq. longitudinallyspace items that arrive at the inlet of belt 112 at the same time. Forexample, if three items arrive at the inlet to belts 112 simultaneously,the item encountering the fastest speed belt will arrive at an aligner150 first, followed by the item that encounters the next fastest belt,and then followed by the item that encounters the slowest of the threebelts.

Belts 112 can also be configured into groups or zones 120, such eachbelt within a zone operate at the same speed. For example, referring toFIG. 5, eight belts 112 a through 112 h are configured as a belt zone120 a. All belts in zone 120 a operate at the same speed, which isgreater than the belts of next zone 120 b.

An aligner 122 includes walls 142, 144, and 146 (FIG. 2) that areconfigured to receive collimated items from belt 120. The conveyorportion 150 of the aligner 122 under walls 140 through 146 may be anangled such the items are conveyed to or toward the corresponding wall140 through 146.

A vision system 80, illustrated in FIG. 3, can control the speed ofbelts 112 according to apply desired shear forces to the items,depending on the belt materials, mass and shape of the items, whetherthe items are various products or boxes, and like parameters. Visionsystem 80 may be of any type, such as 1D, 2D, 3d, line scan, area scan,or other. Other sensors or controls may be employed.

Some, any, or all of the methods and operations described herein may beperformed under the control of one or more computer systems configuredwith executable instructions and may be implemented as code (e.g.,executable instructions, one or more computer programs, or one or moreapplications) executing collectively on one or more processors, byhardware, or combinations thereof. As noted above, the code may bestored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the formof a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions executableby one or more processors. The computer-readable storage medium isnon-transitory.

The various examples further can be implemented using one or more usercomputers, computing devices or processing devices. Such a system caninclude a number of workstations running any of a variety ofcommercially-available operating systems and other known applicationsfor purposes such as development and database management. These devicesalso can include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals,thin-clients, and other devices capable of communicating via a network.

Operating environments can include a variety of data stores and othermemory and storage media as discussed above. These can reside in avariety of locations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/orresident in) one or more of the computers or remote from any or all ofthe computers across the network. In a particular set of examples, theinformation may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar tothose skilled in the art. Similarly, any necessary files for performingthe functions attributed to the computers, servers, or other networkdevices may be stored locally and/or remotely, as appropriate. Where asystem includes computerized devices, each such device can includehardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus, theelements including, for example, at least one central processing unit(“CPU”), at least one input device (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, controller,touch screen, or keypad), and at least one output device (e.g., adisplay device, printer, or speaker). Such a system may also include oneor more storage devices, such as disk drives, optical storage devices,and solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (“RAM”) orread-only memory (“ROM”), as well as removable media devices, memorycards, flash cards, etc.

Such devices also can include a computer-readable storage media reader,a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless orwired)), an infrared communication device, etc.), and working memory asdescribed above. The computer-readable storage media reader can beconnected with, or configured to receive, a computer-readable storagemedium, representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storagedevices as well as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanentlycontaining, storing, transmitting, and retrieving computer-readableinformation. The system and various devices also typically will includea number of software applications, modules, services, or other elementslocated within at least one working memory device, including anoperating system and application programs, such as a client applicationor Web browser. It should be appreciated that alternate examples mayhave numerous variations from that described above. For example,customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements mightbe implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, suchas applets), or both. Further, connection to other computing devicessuch as network input/output devices may be employed.

Storage media computer readable media for containing code, or portionsof code, can include any appropriate media known or used in the art,including storage media and communication media, such as but not limitedto volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmissionof information such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data, including RAM, ROM, ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory or othermemory technology, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (“CD-ROM”), digitalversatile disk (DVD), or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices,or any other medium which can be used to store the desired informationand which can be accessed by a system device. Based on the disclosureand teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the variousexamples.

The conveyor technology disclosed herein may be employed with machinelearning algorithms or artificial intelligence that enhances the controlof the fingers and associated structure and function. In this regard, acontrol system may interpolate from existing information about andexperiences with successful and unsuccessful prior sequences of seeing,engaging, and lifting an object according to established principles forcomputer learning. Further, the inventors contemplate a control systemmay extrapolate from the information and experiences to establish newsequences and functions for the conveyors.

In view of the above controls description, the present invention is notintended to be limited to any particular type of hardware or software orany particular control means, but rather is intended to be able to beemployed using any suitable controller.

The present invention has been described by employing examples ofstructure and function of the tool and related structures. The presentinvention is not intended to be limited to the particular structure orfunction of the tool or related structures unless expressly stated inthe claims. Rather, the invention encompasses the structure(s) andfunction(s) defined in the claims and understood by persons familiarwith container handling to flow naturally from the present disclosure.Further, advantages of the structure and function have been describedfor context of the invention only. It is not intended that the presentinvention be limited to any advantage unless expressly stated in theclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for converting items in athree-dimensional arrangement to a two-dimensional arrangement, thesystem comprising at least a first conveyor and a second conveyor: thefirst conveyor being adapted for receiving items in a three-dimensionalarrangement, the first conveyor being inclined, wherein at least some ofthe items are boxes; the second conveyor being adapted for receiving theitems from the first conveyor, the second conveyor being declined; aninclined third conveyor for receiving items from the declined secondconveyor; and a declined fourth conveyor for receiving items from theinclined third conveyor; whereby a change in direction as the items movefrom the inclined first conveyor to the declined second conveyorseparates items to diminish layers of items.
 2. The system of claim 1wherein each one of the first and third conveyors is adapted for surfacevacuum.
 3. The system of claim 2 wherein each one of the first and thirdconveyors is a belt conveyor having apertures in the belt adapted fortransmitting vacuum to the items.
 4. The system of claim 3 wherein theitems include various products.
 5. The system of claim 2 wherein thesecond and fourth conveyors are slides.
 6. The system of claim 1 furthercomprising a first item sensor adapted to detect items on or proximateto the second conveyor.
 7. The system of claim 6 wherein the firstconveyor includes a first conveyor drive controlled based on a signalfrom the first item sensor.
 8. The system of claim 1 further comprisinga first item sensor adapted to detect items on or proximate to thesecond conveyor and a second item sensor adapted to detect items on orproximate the fourth conveyor.
 9. The system of claim 8 wherein thefirst conveyor includes a first conveyor drive controlled at least inpart on a signal from the first item sensor, and wherein the thirdconveyor includes a third conveyor drive controlled at least in part ona signal from the second item sensor.
 10. A method of converting itemsin a three-dimensional arrangement to a two-dimensional arrangement, thesystem comprising the steps of: (a) conveying items in athree-dimensional arrangement uphill on an inclined first conveyor, atleast some of the items being boxes; (b) transporting items from theinclined first conveyor to a declined second conveyor, such that achange in direction as the items move from the inclined first conveyorto the declined second conveyor separates items to diminish layers ofitems, (c) conveying items from the second conveyor uphill to aninclined third conveyor; and d) conveying items from the third conveyordownhill to a declined fourth conveyor such that a change in directionas the items move from the inclined third conveyor to the declinedfourth conveyor separates items to diminish layers of items.
 11. Themethod of claim 10 further comprising the steps of applying a vacuumforce to items on the inclined first conveyor and applying a vacuumforce to items on the inclined third conveyor.
 12. The method of claim10 further comprising the steps of detecting items on or proximate tothe declined second conveyor and detecting items on or proximate to thedeclined fourth conveyor.
 13. The method of claim 12 further comprisingthe steps of controlling a drive of the first conveyor based on a signalfrom the step of detecting items on or proximate to the declined secondconveyor and controlling a drive of the third conveyor based on a signalfrom the step of detecting items on or proximate to the declined fourthconveyor.
 14. A system for converting items in a three-dimensionalarrangement to a two-dimensional arrangement, the system comprising: thefirst conveyor being adapted for receiving items in a three-dimensionalarrangement, the first conveyor being inclined; the second conveyorbeing adapted for receiving the items from the first conveyor, thesecond conveyor being declined; whereby a change in direction as theitems move from the inclined first conveyor to the declined secondconveyor separates items to diminish layers of items; an inclined thirdconveyor for receiving items from the declined second conveyor; and adeclined fourth conveyor for receiving items from the inclined thirdconveyor.
 15. The system of claim 14 wherein each one of the first andthird conveyors is adapted for surface vacuum.
 16. The system of claim15 wherein the second and fourth conveyors are slides.
 17. The system ofclaim 14 wherein the items include various products.
 18. The system ofclaim 14 further comprising (i) a first item sensor adapted to detectitems on or proximate to the second conveyor and the first conveyorincludes a first conveyor drive controlled based on a signal from thefirst item sensor and (ii) a second item sensor adapted to detect itemson or proximate the fourth conveyor and the third conveyor includes athird conveyor drive controlled at least in part on a signal from thesecond item sensor.